Nearly a month ago, I wrote to you with good news for NTCA’s guiding principle that all Americans, regardless of where they live, should have access to comparable and affordable broadband services. Our defense of the Universal Service Fund (USF) over several years of court challenges— including before the nation’s highest court—was successful, but of course our work to make sure rural Americans can get connected and stay connected does not stop there.
In the weeks that have followed the Supreme Court’s confirmation of constitutionality of the USF contribution mechanism we have all felt joy and relief, but we also realize there’s now the need to get back to work on sustaining universal service for decades to come. With the USF as our “North Star” and as a bipartisan working group of congressional leaders re-engage to tackle needed reforms, it is now time to return to the job of updating universal service. And, with the FCC turning its attention to potentially significant reforms affecting everything from the rates you charge for services to your ability to migrate to newer technologies, we are looking at an extremely busy fall (and beyond) in Washington.
With some members of Congress home for the August recess, now is the perfect time to get ahead of these many debates to come by inviting your members to tour your operations and meet your employees or to request a meeting in a legislator’s district office. NTCA will also be scouring representatives’ websites and social media accounts to learn about events and fundraisers they are hosting and sharing those with our members as opportunities become available. Whether it is a meet-and-greet, a local celebration, or a visit to the county fair, these can be valuable opportunities to connect and highlight what you do for the communities they represent.
While there are a variety of topics to focus on, including tax issues and regulatory relief, I would like to ask you to make a special effort to focus your conversations on the importance of sustaining universal service in rural America. As you will find in the issue fact sheets in our online advocacy toolkit and #BroadbandBuiltToLast campaign materials, NTCA recommends several critical steps that will build upon and sustain the successes of the USF programs while targeting those areas of law and policy most in need of updating:
- The mechanism that funds the USF programs must be updated so that all who use and benefit from affordable and ubiquitous voice and broadband services contribute equitably to this mission. USF is paid for today by contributions from a subset of providers based on legacy jurisdictional and service classifications that make no sense given how networks and services are used today. These gaps must be addressed.
- Transparency and accountability are critical when distributing billions of USF dollars. While it may make sense to reexamine eligibility criteria for receipt of USF support, strings should not be loosened—or altogether untied—when it comes to such support. Careful review and vetting of those seeking support is essential, and states have played and should continue to play an important complementary role in ensuring providers are capable and responsive to the needs of the consumers and communities they are charged to serve.
- Mapping matters—and due diligence must go beyond taking marketing claims of coverage at face value. The FCC’s National Broadband Map offers a useful starting point for determining where broadband service may be available. But it is critical to go beyond superficial claims of coverage and, similar to how the National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently directed states in the context of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, it is important to conduct due diligence on whether a provider actually has capacity to serve every location in an area before determining that USF support is unnecessary there.
I encourage you to use the issue fact sheets as fodder for your conversations, including those that outline critical next steps for Congress in sustaining universal service and USF contributions reform proposals. Please also coordinate with our Government Affairs team so we can follow up as members return to Washington, D.C., this fall. As I have said before, it will take a village to move this forward, and there is still much to be done to secure the future of universal service and to ensure that all Americans have access to #BroadbandBuiltToLast.
Thank you for your membership and ongoing engagement. I look forward to seeing you at the NTCA 2025 Fall Conference in Las Vegas!